


Eyes of The Universe

by Sharkseye



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Reality, Alternate Season/Series 8, Hurt Castiel, Hurt/Comfort, Implied Torture, Literal Emotional Manipulation, M/M, Memory Alteration, Memory Loss, Post 'Torn and Frayed', Unreliable Narrator
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-01-28
Updated: 2013-06-01
Packaged: 2017-11-27 08:33:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 21,606
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/659944
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sharkseye/pseuds/Sharkseye
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>On a case where the creature seems to know Dean, Castiel, and Sam personally, little is as it seems.  After finding out that they're hunting a being who was thought to have died centuries ago, Dean and Cas are thrown into a whirlwind of change, and have to try and discern the differences between reality and illusion.  When all is said and done, they will decide if their happiness is worth the cost of leaving behind everything they've ever known and striking out into the unknown.  But while they're deciding, certain key factors are being forgotten...</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Decisions, Water Reservoirs and Pie

**Author's Note:**

> I've never been to any of the places mentioned, so forgive me for the discrepancy's. It's only rated for swearing

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I went back and edited everything, but it was a rush edit and all mistakes are still my own.

Dean grumbled under his breath as he finished chucking his clothes into his bag and zipped it up.  They had been driving around Colorado for a little over a week, following a trail of victims that hit far too close to home to be a coincidence.  There had been nine deaths and all of them had been somehow related to how either one of the Winchester brothers or Castiel had died. 

The first victim was a tall brown hair guy, out late at night, got stabbed and died.  Second victim has brown hair and green eyes, and was found with a lollypop in his mouth, over a hundred tally marks cut into him and a stake through his heart; third one had the same description, and was torn to shred by dogs. Forth one swallowed a live grenade and exploded, found with a statue of an archangel in the middle of the splatter, and a molar left behind in the statues hand.  Fifth one also exploded, this time though, there was an unlit motive cocktail in the middle.  Sixth was found in a cage with the names ‘Michael’ and ‘Lucifer’ carved into his chest.  Seventh was drowned in oil like that scene in Casino Royale, and finally the eighth and ninth had bones stabbed through their necks with ‘purgatory’ carved into them. 

So it wasn’t a matter of whether or not the creature that had been killing these people knew them or not, it was more a matter of where and what it was.  Cas had popped by recently and assured them that the case was being taken care of and that they didn’t need to look in on it, and that oh, there was a werewolf a few states over that they could check out.  The brothers had both agreed when he was there, but the memory of Alfie’s death and odd way Cas had been acting lately stuck out in both of their minds.  They had gone right back to researching after he left.

“I still think it wants to talk to us, well, maybe not just talk, but it’s got to have some message.”  Sam raved, pacing across the room, flinging his hands everywhere like he always did when agitated “It wants us to go to it.”

“The murders have happened across three different towns though, how are we supposed to find it?” Dean asked, dropping down on the bed next to his bag and laying back.  “I agree with you but where is it? Cause we’ve checked every place that the victims have been, and gone over each crime scene at least twice. It’s already gone through all the times we’ve died, so short of one of us dying again, I don’t see how we find it”

“We have to figure out what the different places have to do with how we died” Sam said thoughtfully, pausing, and Dean could just see the gears in his head moving  “The first three were all in one place and have to do with you going to Hell.  The next two were in a different town and have to do with the apocalypse that was not, and the last ones were here, in yet again a different place, and have to do with leviathans.”

“Hold up, isn’t there that giant water reservoir here in Aurora?” Dean asked suddenly, sitting up and slowly coming to a realization “And this is the one with the leviathan related deaths”

At this Sam almost looked surprised and then gaped suddenly, grabbing his laptop and firing it up. “You’re right, that would make sense, because the leviathan moved by water.”  He muttered, typing furiously at his keyboard

“You know, you don’t have to act so surprised when I figure something out.  Bitch” Dean added for good measure, grinning when he got a muffled ‘Jerk’ back.  

“And there it is.” Sam declared, sounding satisfied and sitting back.  “The Hell related deaths all happened in Allenspark, which has The Chapel on the Rock, a chapel that was built after a meteor strike near there. That matches with how you said you woke up from the grave, and Castiel, an angel, pulled you out.  The apocalypse deaths were all in Dotsero, which is right next to a volcano, the whole apocalypse fire and brimstone thing, and then the leviathan deaths were next to the Aurora water reservoir.   All we have to do is figure out the major thing that we’re working on right now, and find a place that matches up with that.”

“Okay” Dean drawled, thinking “So, we’re working on closing the Gates of Hell, what, do we look for a gated in city?  Maybe drive over to Hell, Michigan? Which cities are out there that have anything to do with the Gates of Hell?”

“Hot Sulphur Springs” Sam replied instantly, “Hell is supposed to burn, and sulfur for demons, it makes sense and is still in Colorado”

Dean nodded, tilting his head to the side slightly, a habit he had picked up from Cas and not really noticed  “Okay, so we go to the springs, see if anything weird pops up, and what, walk around, sightsee?”

“Well this says there’s a resort there, Hot Sulpur Springs Resort and Spa, we can go there first, question the regulars and look around.”  Sam said, clicking through a few pages on his laptop “We can pretend we’re looking to stay there, or agents looking for a suspect.  Ask them about any suspicious behavior.  Oh, there’s also a bakery in town, so you can get pie if we can’t find it.  I don’t think we’re going to get any further on figuring out what _it_ is other than a demon, and it might be changing vessels as well, just to confuse us.”

“Dude, we’re getting pie before we go looking for the creature.  I need pie to deal with unknown creatures who may or may not be a stalker demon” Dean retorted, silly young little brothers, not understanding the value of a good piece of pie “And also, if it wants us to find it why would it be trying to confuse us?  It’ll probably have just kept its original vessel cause no one saw it.  But then again, that doesn’t help us either, cause no one saw it.  If it wants to talk to us it’ll meet us there.”

Sam sighed at this, muttering about obtuse brothers, but closed his laptop and picked it up, heading over to the door, throwing out as he left, “Hurry up, I don’t think this creature is going to kill anyone else, but we should get there before it leaves.  And if we drive there and Cas pops by, we can just say we’re sightseeing, the name is the only thing that connects the murders with Hot Sulpher Springs.”

“So we’re definitely not telling him” Dean stated, biting his lip.  He felt slightly guilty about it, he had no idea what was wrong with angel, but he sure wasn’t coming to them for help.  Sam grimaced, knowing that to be a statement but answering anyway

“No”

~*~

 

_The angel hit the floor hard, backing up and trying to crawl away from the woman staring coldly down at him.  He managed to make it to the corner, curling his wings up against his back, trying to protect them with his body._

_Time blanked out and the next thing he knew, the woman was pulling a thin metal rod back, a noise ringing in his ears.  A horrible pain was exploding in the angels head and he realized that the high keening was coming from him. Snapping his mouth shut he glanced up at the woman and fuzziness set in again._

_“Stop, please!” He begged, throwing his hand up to cover himself as the woman pulled out an angel blade, his own blade, though he had no idea how she got it.  She frowned down at him, looking almost disappointed_

_“You didn’t listen.” She murmured, shaking her head slightly, and the blade descended_

_Pain, so much pain, falling feathers and sprays of blood, but nothing touched the clean white room, the bloodied form of the angel a stark contrast.  So much pain_

_The pain stopped building and the angel tried to stand, to get away, only to fall back down in agony as his newly mangled right wing brushed a wall.  Awareness was fading in and out slowly and he couldn’t figure out what was happening, why it was happening.  But then deceivingly soft hands grasped his other wing and his blade slipped its way through the skin and into the bone at the top, following the arch perfectly even as the angel screamed and struggled to get away.  Tears fell down the angels face and he sobbed, knowing he deserved this, though he couldn’t remember why_

_“You can still fly on them” the woman’s voice cut through the agony and the angel realized she had moved away, dropping his blade in front of him and causing him to flinch back from the noise even as his hand darted out and grabbed it, curling back in on himself_

_“Now, since you failed to warn the Winchesters off of this hunt, you’re going to join them on it, and kill the being they’re hunting before they can talk to it.” The woman’s soft voice should have been soothing, but only reminded the angel of the agony he was in.  There was a slight pressure that covered him before slipping back and he realized that he was clean again and his wings had disappeared, slightly muting the pain.  “I don’t care how you convince them to let you help_

_“Go.” A command, and the world dissolved around him_


	2. Bells, Books, and Definitely Comprehendible Insanity

“There is a small problem.” Cas’s voice sounded from the backseat and Dean swore in surprise, yanking the impala back onto his side of the road.

“Damn it Cas, stop doing that!” Dean exclaimed, glaring through the mirror at the angel “Call ahead or wear a bell, your choice”

Cas frowned at him, tilting his head like Dean was some kind of intricate puzzle that he couldn’t figure out.  “You will need to stay on the case, I will assist you”

Dean glanced at Sam, meeting his brothers surprised eyes for a second.  What was that all about? “Uh, why? What changed?”

“The being you’re hunting could not be found” Cas looked slightly baffled by that, like he couldn’t believe that the creature had managed to escape detection.  Speaking of which…

“Who was going to go after this Cas? Been back to heaven lately?” Sam asked hesitantly, glancing back at the seraph.  Cas frowned further at that, but then gave one abrupt confirming nod.  Sam and Dean shared another surprised look, Dean raising an eyebrow to question Sam whether or not they should fill Cas in and Sam shaking his head slightly in reply.  Dean internally winced, but nodded softly and turned back to the road.  He had thought that after the whole mess with Raphael Cas would have started telling them things and asking for help, but it didn’t seem like that had changed.   He hated having to keep stuff from the angel, it seriously sucked

“Where are we going?”  The angel in question interrupted his internal rant “This is not a major road”

“Hot Sulpher Springs, we think the creature will be there.” Dean answered, realizing Cas had missed most of the trip. Huh, crafty angel, managing to avoid sitting in the impala for so long.  Whether that was because he hadn’t wanted them to question him much, or because he didn’t like being confined, Dean didn’t know and wasn’t keen on finding out.

They were only about two miles out of Dotsero and yet were just now passing the first sign of civilization after about half an hour of driving.  Even that wasn’t a sign of anything living, just that people had been there.  An old abandoned farm sat mournfully on the side of the road, its barn sagging at the middle and a couple of the sheds tipped over in the wind.  In front of the farmhouse a huge tree grew, covered in green leaves and acting as a start contrast to the rotted buildings.   Continuing on, the farmhouse slipped from his mind and they arrived at the towns edge.  Sam pulled out his print-out map of the towns streets and began directing Dean through them. 

The three of them came to a stop outside of the Resort and Spa, parking in a dusty lot in front of the building.  The place was a little less fancy then it had been made out to be, but it was kinda nice, parks and a couple groves of trees surrounding.  Getting out of the car Dean turned to Cas, automatically stepping forward to adjust his perpetually crooked tie.

“Alright, so I can go and check the place out, comb through the people, and you can Sam can go into the lobby and talk to people and workers, ask about any suspicious behavior” Dean said, nodding towards a small pathway to their left.  “I’ll go over there first, and we all have our cells to call if we find the thing.”

 “Wouldn’t it be better if Cas were to look around, he can identify non humans better than us” Sam asked, “And the last time he spoke with suspects it didn’t go so well”

Cas glared at Sam and Dean laughed, clapping Cas on the back “Nonsense, the guy wants to become a hunter, it’ll be more practice.  You still have some minutes on your phone?”

Cas nodded seriously “Yes, I have not heard from the voice yet”

 “Great, I’ll be off then” Dean grinned at the two of them and left, striding across the parking lot to the pathway. 

He didn’t know why he was so determined to look around on his own, but it was like this slight tugging in his brain, urging him forwards.  It didn’t fell malicious, just insistent and determined.  Dean continued down the small path, turning left at a fork that split the pathway into two and coming out into a small clearing.  The path continued on and to the right, intersecting with a small stream that wove under a bridge and then disappeared into the roots of large tree.  There was a small gravel pit to the left of the path that a couple families were enjoying, the kids playing in the rocks, and the parents watching and talking.  Another path branched off far to the left, continuing to border the gravel pit and then turning towards a couple of benches on which a teenage girl was sitting and reading a book.

As Dean looked around at the scenery, the girl looked up from her book, meeting his stare directly and revealing her black eyes.  He froze, mentally cursing the fact that there were people around, but the girl just looked back at her book, marked the page and folded it gently closed.   She leaned back against the bench and crossed one leg over the other, watching and waiting for him, face completely expressionless.  Shifting his stance, Dean kept his hand next to his hidden knife and walked over to the demon. 

He stopped when he was directly in front of her, disquieted slightly as he saw her eyes.  From afar it had looked like they were the complete black of a demon, but up close he could see other colors in them, swirling and reminding him of that documentary Sam had bugged him into watching about the Hubble Space telescope and its pictures of nebula.  Blues and greens burst through the inky blackness, twining with each other and then fading as deep red sprinkles pulsed into existence. They constantly changed, following beautiful patterns of stars and galaxies.

“Dean Winchester” The girl greeted finally and Dean started, unsettled that he had relaxed and become so unfocused.  From the sky around him quite some time had passed, him just standing there in a trance watching the girls shifting eyes

“You’re the one leaving the bodies around?  Got to say, you could’ve just called” Dean smirked, forcing himself to ignore her abstract eyes and his own unease.  She tipped her head to the side and for a second reminded him so much of Castiel that his breath caught

“They were all souls condemned to Perdition.  No good would have come out of them living” She murmured, looking far more interested in studying his face than the conversation at hand

“Oh and that makes it better does it?  Cause you can totally know that they deserved to die.” He scoffed, gripping his knife and moving around the girl to stand in front of the second bench, putting the whole clearing into view “How do you know so much about us and who the fuck are you?”

“Not all monsters are inhuman.”  She said softly, turning back to her book and running her hand down the cover, following the letters of the title with her fingers.  Following her gaze, Dean also looked down at the book.  It was a dark blue, hardcover with silvery cursive writing in a familiar language, but one he couldn’t quite pinpoint. “I’ve watched you three for quite a while, for almost your entire lives you and your brother have been very important to time, your angel coming to my attention after pulling you from Hell.  You are creating major ripples disrupting plans of beings far superior than yourselves.

“And as for who I am?” The girl continued after a thoughtful pause.  “I don’t really remember who I am.  I know who I used to be, but it’s faint, unimportant in the grand scheme of things.  If you wanted, I suppose you could call me Keriel.”

“Keriel huh?”  Dean unsheathed his knife now and held it, wary.  Most of what she said had been reasonably lucid but something about her screamed madness, not just an annoying plot to withhold information.  The mental ones were the worst to deal with, you never knew what they were going to do.  “Okay Keriel, why did you call us here?”

She continued to look at her book, narrowing her eyes and arranging her face into a serious expression that only served to highlight the fact that this was not her body.  “Because you’re all changing things again.  You’re trying to close Hell, you’re being manipulated and you don’t know it.  The pieces of the chessboard are moving and you have to figure out both which piece you are, and who you belong to.  I can’t talk to you yet, more possibilities are still being written.  But I’m going to create another possibility this time, instead of waiting for them.  I’ve only ever stepped in when everything’s falling apart, but I’m going to step in now and back then, before it falls apart.  I have to try and change what’s about to happen”

“What the hell are you on about?” Dean demanded, going over her words and picking out the most important parts he understood “Who’s manipulating us? And what’s about to happen?”

“You’ll have to find out tonight when I’m finished.  The three of you are going to hunt me, and then find me.  I can tell you then, I can even let you decide then if you agree with my possibility.  Maybe I’ll be able to show you some prewritten possibilities.”  At this last sentence her head jerked up, her eyes widening and she stared at Dean, almost stuttering in her haste to get the next words out “No! No, I’d never show anyone the possibilities, never. Nope, no, but I can do something.  I can calm everything, just let it stop for a day or two.  But quickly, yes, we’ll have to be very quick.  Time is changing, wasting, being used for purposes that would make me sound like some old storyteller for kids if I dared call them nefarious”

Keriel slowed down on the last words, acting almost human as she flashed a smile and relaxed slightly.  But then her eyes fell back on her book and she stiffened again.  She looked back up and smiled sweetly, a golden light bursting in her right eye and light blue swirling through her left as that inhuman feel came back full force

“Tonight, find me at the rundown farmhouse you saw on the way into town.  Bring your angel and your brother, but no one else.  Then we shall see who is the hunter, and who is the prey” Keriel said, her sweet smile morphing into a dangerously amused look.  Dean opened his mouth to demand more answers, but a shout of his name distracted him and he turned his head to see Sam barreling down the path.  Frustrated by his moment of distraction, he glanced back at Keriel, but the bench was empty, nothing left to show she existed.

“Dean, there you are, why didn’t you answer your cell?” Sam asked, breathing heavily as if he had been running.  Cas walked up behind him, a concerned look on his face and Dean frowned, what were they so worried about?

“I didn’t hear it ring, what’s up?”  He asked, glancing over to the gravel pit and noticing that the families had left.

“What’s up? What do you mean what’s up, you’ve been gone for three hours” Sam spat angrily “Where have you been? We’ve-”

“You found the creature” Cas stated from behind Sam, stalking over to the bench and swiping his hand lightly through the air where Keriel had sat.  “It got away?”

“Three hours, dude, it’s been less than fifteen minutes.” Dean shot back at Sam and then answered Castiel.  “And ya, her names Keriel.  I have no idea what she is, she’s like a weird demon, her eyes are black and have little colorful galaxies in them, they’re like a shrooms trip”

Dean cut off from describing her further at the look on Cas’s face “You know her?”

Cas glanced up from the bench, meeting his eyes, he looked really worried, frowning and stepping forward to invade Deans personal space and search his eyes

“Yes, although she died a short time after I was created” Cas answered stiffly, continuing to search Dean much as Keriel had done before.

“Care to elaborate?”  Dean suggested, exasperated and uncomfortable under Cas’s scrutiny.  He glanced at Sam for relief, but his brother had the patented bitch-face on, scowling at Dean

“She’s very powerful then, if this was actually her and she didn’t die.  Though I suppose it would make sense, as you weren’t aware of the passage of time.”  Cas frowned at Deans glare, but stopped his examination, leaning back and just meeting Deans eyes “What did she say, and did she have anything with her?”

“No, first you’re telling us who she is” Dean demanded, not forgetting how secretive Cas was when rescuing Alfie, or the change in opinion about this hunt.  Keriel’s comment on them being manipulated came back and he narrowed his eyes at Cas, silently refusing to give out any more information before he got some in return.  Cas frowned at this, and looked like he was about to argue, but Sam swiftly cut in

“Dean’s right, if we know what she is, then maybe he’ll mention something that wouldn’t have previously seemed important” Sam explained, and Dean flashed a quick smile at him in thanks.  Cas seemed to deflate at this point, and he nodded, stepping back a foot so he could look at Sam also

“She’s an archangel.  The archangel of possibilities.”  Then Cas dropped his voice to a whisper, as if afraid of someone listening in.  "She knew about Lucifer’s Fall before he fell, the only problem was that she only knew someone would disobey, but didn’t know who.  Keriel disappeared shortly after Lucifer was locked into Hell, the Host assumed she was either dead or in Hell herself.  No one’s seen or heard anything of her in thousands of years”

“She’s an archangel?  What the heck happened to her?”  Dean exclaimed, shocked “When she spoke to me it was like she was mad, she went on about time, possibilities, kids stories and not being able to tell me anything.”

Sam scoffed slightly “Are you kidding? If she’s been in Hell for thousands of _earth_ years, I’m surprised she wasn’t tearing apart every living thing she came in contact with.”

“Did she have anything with her?” Cas repeated before Dean could reply to Sam, tilting his head with the question

“Enochian! That’s what it was!  She had a dark blue book with an Enochian title” He realized, staring at Cas “That would make sense though if she’s an archangel.  Oh, and she told me to meet her at the run down farmhouse on the way into town.

“She said she couldn’t tell me anything yet, but she could tonight if we meet her there, said she wanted to stop something from happening, sounded like something really bad.”  Dean said, standing and moving around Cas and Sam to start walking back down the path, them falling into step beside him.  “And how has it been three hours?  You said it make sense if I lost time.  Does she make it go weird or something?”

“No, it’s more her true form, I suspect you saw a glimpse of it through her eyes.  She’s created to deal with knowing all the possible outcomes of other beings choices and random happenstances, therefore she’s majorly different to the rest of the angels and can be seen by human eyes, though she is still quite bright.  That the main color of her eye is black is telling of her stay in Hell, she used to be mainly light.   But then again, Keriel was always captivating and occasionally used her swirling colors to put her enemies in a trace like state, I suspect she did it unintentionally with you.”  Cas explained, adding on “She can’t tell what her actions will change, so the fact that she’s stepping in now means that there are very few good possibilities for the future.”

Trying to ignore that last sobering fact Dean spoke again, grinning “What’s her true form then? Some kind of swirly mist or something? An insane hallucinogen filled ray of light?”

Cas glanced disapprovingly at him, but answered “No.  She is a three-headed dragon with three pairs of wings and three tails.  Her three personalities are Vengeance, Justice and Mercy, but she used to be quite understandable as only one being despite this.  I imagine however, that being in a vessel mixes and confuses her personalities, so yes, she would be insane”


	3. Burgers, Weeds and Hanging Trees

Reaching his baby, Dean glanced at his phone and interrupted Sam’s rant of questions to Castiel about Keriel and the logistics of an archangel in Hell.

“It’s seven o’clock, we should probably eat before going to the farmhouse, does that map of yours have any diners on it?”  He asked Sam, unlocking the Impala and sliding in

“Nothing dulls your appetite” Sam bitchfaced at him but grabbed his map, pointing out a fast food mark near the edge of town “But then we need to get over to the farmhouse.  You said that Keriel said that we would meet her tonight, but we should definitely get there early, scope out the place first.  Plus, we need to research her, figure out as much about her as possible”

Dean pulled out of the parking lot and then opened his mouth to reply but Cas spoke first from the back “I agree, we should finish this as quick as possible, Keriel cannot be allowed to exist without guidance from a higher power.  Although I do not think you’ll be able to find much about her, she was almost forgotten in angelic society, it is unlikely that humans know much more about her.”

Snorting at this, Dean muttered “Higher power? She’s an archangel, not much higher than that, we’ve killed most of the others.  Plus, with how much your old superiors told you about the apocalypse, I doubt speaking about an archangel in Hell was one of their top priorities.”

Cas glared at him but said nothing, turning away and pouting.  Dean absolutely did not think Cas was adorable, mighty angel of the lord sulking in the back of his baby.  He realized he was staring and wrenched his gaze back to the road, ignoring Sam’s knowing look.  They got to the diner without any more conversation, each off in their own little world as they pulled up and parked. 

“I’m going to get some research done while you eat, maybe this place will have wifi” Sam said, grabbing his laptop

Dean rolled his eyes “Cas is eating too” Seeing Cas open his mouth to protest, he added, “Don’t give me any of that ‘I do not require nutrition’ crap.  We’ll just get you a different type of burger than the ones you ate during famine.  You’ll love it. And besides, you stole my milkshake the other day, you’re getting your own food this time”

“I do not believe I committed any offense in drinking your milkshake, you clearly let me have it” Cas frowned, tilting his head at Dean and ignoring the famine comment

“He’s right you know” Sam grinned and Dean scowled, traitor.  “I’m pretty sure you offered it to him”

“That was only ‘cause he looked like a puppy” Dean grumbled, pushing open the door to the diner and looking around, choosing a booth in the corner to go to. “I swear, between the two of your kicked puppy faces I’ll never get a moments rest”

Cas smiled at that, just a small upturn in the corners of his mouth, but Dean was stunned, trying to figure out what he had said to warrant such a reaction.  Sam noticed too, but just gave Dean a look that was completely unhelpful as he flipped open his laptop and sat down, leaving Cas to slide in next to Dean. 

A young waitress approached them and Dean flashed her a winning smile as she pulled out a little pad to write on.  Her smile turning provocative and she asked him silkily “And what can I get for you?”

Cas’s grin vanished and he pressed slightly closer to Dean, but Dean missed the movement as he was glancing over the menu.

“I’ll get a mozza-burger and a chocolate shake, and he’ll have the same, except a strawberry shake” Dean requested, nodding to Cas.  The waitress’s eyes widened slightly as she took in the way Cas and Dean were sitting, and something like realization flittered across her face and her smile turned slightly more forced.  Dean really wished she would share, cause he had no idea what had just happened

“Oh, okay, of course.”  Turning to Sam, she raised her eyebrow, her pen posed above the paper

Sam, who had been solely focusing on his laptop, looked up at her and started, throwing a look at the menu in Deans hand, but answered anyways “I’ll just have a salad, do you have grilled chicken?”

The waitress nodded and left, but before Dean could ask about her strange behavior, Sam spoke again

“Alright, so this pretty much shows nothing on Keriel, a bunch of fanfiction stories, but no mentions on who she is” Sam grimaced as he scrolled down the screen, “Some of these are really mentally scaring”

“What is fanfiction?  And are you sure it can be of no use?” Cas asked, Sam opened his mouth to answer but Dean quickly cut him off

“Nope, it’s nothing, just weird people on the internet” he shuddered as he remembered Becky, and then once again wondered where Chuck was.  He had grown kinda fond of the weird little guy, despite him writing their lives into a story.  It would suck if Castiel’s theory on what had happened to him was true. “Seriously, we don’t need to go into any of that”

Sam laughed at his reaction and closed the laptop.  Dean scowled at him and reminded “Becky?  Slash?  Really Sam? Nothing about that sick shit is funny”

At this Sam quickly shut up and Dean flashed him a triumphant grin.  He was indeed bi, but Sam didn’t know and plus, they were brothers, that was just messed up.  Luckily Cas dropped the topic and they were all distracted when their food came out and they were served.  Dean grabbed his burger and took a huge bite, letting out a slight moan in pleasure.  There was nothing like a greasy fattening burger to fix being time whammed by an insane archangel.  He set it down when he realized Cas was just staring fixatedly at his burger instead of eating it, and Dean let out a small huff of amusement

“You know, in order to taste it, you gotta put it in your mouth” Dean winced at his wording, but Cas didn’t seem to notice the innuendo, picking up the burger like it was made of glass, and taking a dainty bite.  He chewed it with a thoughtful look, nodding slightly and taking another, larger bite

“You’re putting way too much thought into that” Sam also looked amused, but he was glancing between Cas and Dean.  Dean tilted his head at Sam, realized what he was doing and grabbed his burger, taking another bite and pointedly ignoring Sam’s snicker.  He managed to finish his meal without any more incidents, though he did get slightly sidetracked at Cas drinking his milkshake.  Seriously, what the heck was wrong with him?  Dean was usually better at hiding his attraction to the angel, pretending that nothing was happening, and that that nothing didn't escalate any in his mad slaughter through purgatory. That what had been building up since Cas walked into the barn so many years ago didn't lead to only being able to sleep when Cas was around, to freaking out over deep wounds when they didn't automatically heal, and taking in and trusting a vampire for the sole reason of him saving the angel. Everything for Dean in purgatory had revolved around finding Castiel and then getting him out. The angel was all that mattered, and he had left Dean like everyone else.  Dean tried not to think about that, but he knew it was true.  Everyone Dean loved would leave him, Sammy had shown that too, ditching Dean for a girl and previously for a demon. 

 

Sam raised an eyebrow, and Dean realized he was glaring at his empty plate.  Now wasn't that great, he had succeeded in getting himself into a bad mood. This was why he didn't think about stuff like that. Cause if he did, he could go down a huge rabbit hole that he had given up on filling in, instead just covering it over.  He paid for the meal, refusing to look at Sam or Cas and thinking about things like the Impala and pie.  Surprisingly, it actually worked in changing his mood.

"Alright, let's blow this joint" Dean grinned, pushing Cas slightly to get him out of the booth "Off to have conversations with crazy archangels"

Sam rolled his eyes at this, but got out of the booth and followed Dean and Cas out of the diner. Getting in the car, Dean cranked up the radio, crowing in victory as Led Zeppelin filled the air.

 

~*~

 

The farmhouse itself was very anticlimactic, though Dean supposed it might make sense as a meeting place with an insane archangel. The house was large and white with green stucco, facing on one side to an overgrown lawn and the other to a small and also overgrown clearing. On either side of the clearing perpendicular to the house there was a quonset, one about 75 meters long and shaped like half a cylinder on its side, while the other was more box like, with a wider door end.  On the side opposite to the farmhouse a large shed sat in front of a few smaller sheds, the smaller ones falling apart and leaning dangerously into themselves.

"We should split up, check the sheds and quonsets, see if she left anything in there or is already there" Sam announced, stepping out of the car and scrunching his nose up at the waist high thick weeds he had stepped into. "Cas could you check the farmhouse and the quonsets, I'll look through the sheds, and Dean, you go look through the sheds next to the grain bin."

Dean frowned, opening his mouth to question, but then caught sight of the grain bins. There were about eight of them standing like pillars on either side of an unassuming road, another three sheds sitting in line next to them. They had been protected from the road by the huge tree, though it did little to help against nature. On two of the sheds the whole sides had collapsed, revealing antiques that looked like they hadn't been moved in years.

"Sure it's a good idea to split up? If she comes early and does one her time change thingy, we're not gonna know" Dean asked, then looked over to Cas, who was contemplating the overgrowth as if he wanted to smite it. Dean could sympathize, the things it was doing to his baby, he _hated_ driving though tall plants. "Will we be able to tell? Or will she catch us all with it?"

Cas looked up, glancing quickly around before settling his eyes on Dean. "I don't know if she's already here or been here, but I will be able to feel if she appears. I doubt she'll want us in a trance, so it's unlikely that she'll do her 'time change thingy' again."

"Unlikely" Dean snorted "that's reassuring"

Cas tipped his head to the side and Dean laughed internally at his expression, it had gone somewhere between _'I will smite you puny human'_ and _'You never cease to confuse me'_.

"She said tonight and it's not dark enough to be considered night yet. We'll meet up in ten minutes back here." Sam finalized, his bitchface on full steam.  Seriously, since Dean had gotten back from purgatory he had been moody.  Dean mostly chose not to think about it, but sometimes the thought about how much Sam didn't need him would hit Dean and not let go. Granted, he had ended up leaving Amelia, but that was only after her ultimatum...

"Alright" Dean clapped his hands together and turned away, practicing his long run tradition of avoiding the problem "Lets be off then"

Without pausing for agreement he strode off towards the sheds, intent on checking them first. The first shed had a yellowing unplugged refrigerator, a broken cabinet and an assortment of things that could have been torture instrument or just old sewing crap.  Nothing looked out of place, so he moved on, going to the next shed. This one was practically empty, with just a few spools of wire coiled up in the corner. The third shed still had all its walls, so Dean had to carefully pick his way up to it, pushing on the door and finding it stuck. Great, he thought irritably, now he would have to kick in the door, and wasn't that just smart.  Knowing his luck, the floor would probably fall in or the shed would collapse. Deciding to tackle that last, he turned to go to the grain bins and stopped.

Keriel was standing in front of the tree, examining a rope she had in her hands. He slowly approached her, cursing the fact that he hasn't asked Cas for one of his angel blades just in case

"So Keriel, going to talk now?" He asked, stopping a couple meters away as she paused in her examination of the ropes.

Glancing up at him, she looked almost confused, tilting her head "You're alone, yet your brother and angel came here with you. Oh, wait, there's your angel"

A fluttering of wings preceded Cas's arrival, landing right next to Dean, his angel blade already out and his stance tense.

"Keriel" Cas monotoned, his eyes narrowing

Keriel grinned, her face transforming to one of childlike innocence "Hey little brother, it's nice to see you."

Cas glared and stepped forwards, opening his mouth to reply, but Keriel spoke again  "Have either of you ever seen something that was about to fall, just tipping over, and you know you could stop it, catch it before it hits the ground, so you reach out, but you don't know if you'll be able to grab it or not?  That's what this is like.  It's all falling, and I'm going to see if I can catch it"

"You're really all about this falling apart, doom and gloom thing aren't you" Dean sneered, frustration and annoyance with the lack of information making him reckless "Any reason?  You said you were going to explain things, so care to elaborate?"

"You'd be all about doom and gloom too if you could see what's happening to those who get in the way.  If you could see Castiel's wings I think you'd understand.  With the state you're in, I'm surprised you can still fly on them" She directed the last part at Cas, and both Keriel and Dean turned to look at him.  Dean was surprised to see Cas cringe, curling slightly into himself as if pulling wings tighter to his body.  He met Dean's eyes for a second before looking away, and Dean was even more surprised to see shame on the angels face

"Cas, hey man, what's she talking about? What's going on?"  Dean asked, moving closer to Cas and moving his head to catch Cas' gaze "Cas?"

Cas couldn't meet his eyes, kept on looking away, slight pain mixing with the shame on his face.  But then the stone cold mask was thrown back up and he was glaring back over Deans shoulder, reminding him it was probably not the smartest thing to turn your back on an unknown threat. 

Keriel spoke again, as if responding to and confirming his thoughts  "Oh, and the whole explaining thing?  I don't really know how to do that.  I was going to wait to do this until your brother got here too, but seeing as Castiel was supposed to kill me already, we don't really have that much time.  So, possibilities and good times all around! I'll help you, though you may not know you need help, and you can paint the walls for me. I was thinking green"

"Whatever you’re planning to do, I will stop you, and we don't require your help" Cas spat, ignoring the second part of what Keriel said.  "I won't let you harm Dean"

At this Keriel looked mock taken aback, dropping the rope with one hand to lay it over her heart, gasping "You wound me! I would never harm yourself or your human.  Also, how do you purpose to stop me?  Throwing aside the fact that neither one of you can leave here, plus the fact that I'm a demonized archangel, how are you going to fight me? Although actually, you know, I really don't like jellyfish.  Those buggers are mean, seriously, swimming with them sucks, no matter how awesome they look"

A rushing noise sounded and Dean whipped around as a ring of fire about twelve meters in diameter surrounded them and the tree.  Ignoring his growing unease, Dean laughed scornfully. "You do realize you're supposed to be outside the fire when you light it."

"Now you're just acting like you haven't been listening.  Archangel, yes, but demonized archangel, weird archangel.  Hell doesn't just change humans you know.  And besides, you should be nicer to me ‘cause I'm actually giving you a chance at a nice possibility.  Happy ending and everything.  I like chocolate, so, next time you see me, try and bring some.  Definitely not as into sweets as Gabriel was, or could've been, his death seriously sucked if it actually happened" She trailed off sadly and Dean turned back from his examinations for weaknesses in the fire to face her, barely catching what totally would've been a manly shriek.  Keriel was standing in front of them now, not even a foot away and holding Cas's sword, casually giving it back after disarming him.  The ropes were left behind at the base of the tree "You might want to keep that, and I might be better than you at fighting.  You only have one of those, I have a tomahawk, hidden blade and a hook blade, plus am archangel level proficient in all three.  Really, don't push your luck.  Well, I suppose I could just give you more luck to push.  Yup, I wish you all the luck in the world, I really do.  I would say I'll miss you, but considering I'll probably see you in other possibilities, I don't know how much I'll pay attention to this one.  You may not have Sam, but maybe it'll be better with just the two of you against the world.

"One last thing, you can do whatever you want, but try and follow the general rules, it'll make life easier when you finally accept it."  With that last statement, she smiled almost sadly, raising her hands to rest on Dean and Cas's foreheads.  Dean tried to struggle, but found he couldn't move anything past his eyes, looking at Cas, he found the angel in the same predicament, staring fearfully back at him.  Cas's wide blue eyes were the last things he saw before a jarring coldness seeped through him, and everything faded away.


	4. Benches, Aqua Color Schemes and Photographs

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is where the main part of the story starts. So the second POV will be more what it's like, plot-wise. And I’m really sorry about the characterization. I don’t know where it went, just took off running in a that way direction.
> 
> The fanfics referenced in this chapter are, in order;  
> Of Angels and Demons by Miss_Lv on AO3  
> The Darkness We Became by Liquid_Thought on AO3  
> Remember Me As A Time of Day by triedunture on AO3  
> Take The Wheel by Misachan on AO3  
> Blue Lies by Likhoradka on AO3  
> When The Lost Become The Found by twisting_vine_x on Livejournal  
> If one of the authors is reading this and would like their story removed, just comment and I will do so. I've tried to avoid spoilers to the stories, but if you're worried about it, skip the paragraph with the * sign in front of it.

A teenage girl with a small dark blue book sat on a bench overlooking a snowy ravine in Calgary, Alberta, around one thousand miles from where a hunter and his angel had been trapped the night before.  The day was crisp, but still warm enough to get by with a thin sweatshirt and jeans, the snow already melting in the sun.  A man in a leather jacket and a dog strolled by, and Keriel grimaced slightly as her thoughts went back to the night before, to her actions revolving around said hunter and his angel.  She had forgotten how hard it was to communicate with other beings.  Most of the time when she needed to fix things she would just slip a thought into someone’s mind, tweak reality a little bit, the little undetectable things that her Father had taught her to do.  This time she wanted a more permanent solution, but her Father had told her that she must bow to free will, the ability to make choices had to be kept.  He had always been the one to actually talk to and interact with His creations.  She had just been the archangel of possibilities, the one who listened to every word He spoke, while watching the world move and keeping it from falling apart.

She had been created in heaven, her home and now unreachable dream.  Then, after her beginning and first years in heaven, He had told her to go to the pit.  So, because He wanted her to, she had, following Lucifer in his fall, condemning herself to countless years of pain and misery.  Time didn’t matter to her, but she was grateful when her Father told her to leave Hell, to go instead to a place called Purgatory.  Once there she observed and ran amongst the monsters that prowled the dark world and hunted each other simply because they could do nothing else, learning about the basest instincts of survival that even the best could fall prey to. 

She was not angry at Him for her suffering, though she didn't know why she suffered, she merely bore it because He had told her to.  When He eventually told her to go to earth, she had been wary, not knowing what awaited her, but had done so because her Father was good and He knew best for her.  Coming to earth He told her to take a vessel and weave a covering so dense even her siblings couldn't see through it, and then finally, she could give into her own base instincts, living for the possibilities she was created for.  She existed out of the flow of time and lived possibilities of people's lives, seeing the world as they did and making the decisions they made for the reasons they made them.  Being them for an eternity of non-existent time, then returning to her own mind and learning from their choices.

Her Father told her to keep watch, to very slightly and subtly steer the world so that it would remain intact until the time came for His renewing of the earth.  The first time she tried to do so, she appeared to a human intent on destruction and spoke to him, urging him to take a different path than the one him and his kinsman were on.  A day later the man had been killed for speaking with demons and a bloody and terrible crusade started, Keriel unable to stop it.

Horrified at her failure, she went back to her Father for guidance.  She had failed grievously, and yet He had unending mercy, gentle words and important but dismaying lessons.  He reminded her of her time in Hell and in Purgatory, and stated that free will must be kept.  It was a delicate balance she had been created to work on, He told her, she must keep the world from ending, but also preserve free will, one of the biggest gifts He had given humans.  Determined to never forget what He said, she committed His words to memory, going over them in her mind and swearing to learn from them, giving her Father unnecessary promises to do better.  So she waited, crying with the people who cried, laughing with those who laugh, following their lives, but never again so blatantly ordering someone away from free will for anything less than a threat to the whole of humanity. And she never showed herself to anyone either, preferring to drop a thought into their mind, guide them delicately away from the brink.

That was part of why Keriel hadn't known how to talk to her brother and his hunter.  Her Father hadn't told her to interfere, she had just wanted to see if she could, if she could create a completely different possibility instead of waiting for them to come to her. It had been so long since she had seen His face or heard His voice, so many years in which she was lost in possibilities.  But still, she knew He wouldn't be angry at her for this, He had wrath yes, but He is love, never ending love.  Her impeding on their free will was temporary, and would end in a choice. They would never have to give up their choices.  Plus, she was creating the base from their memories and dreams, she would let it grow on its own, appear one more time, and then they were completely free to do as they wanted.  They could have the uncertain despairing possibility that she had seen was coming, or they could have one that was full of life, a home.

Keriel couldn't remember heaven, couldn't remember her home.  Actually speaking to an angel had been wonderful, standing close enough to feel the cold glow of Castiels grace, it had been the closest to home she had been in years.  Even with Naomi manipulating him, tearing his grace and sinking in her claws, it was still grace and the feeling of a brother who had sacrificed so much for so little.  How could Keriel not try and fix things, just this once going against her useless promises from the beginning and doing something for an angel who had lost everything to protect those who showed him no love back?   And the hunter, his soul, it was amazing on its own but then also attached to the angels grace by the handprint shaped brand on it, the two complemented each other so nicely.

*They were hugely important to almost all possibilities, so there had been tons of possibilities from their eyes, it was weird actually speaking to them as herself.  She had watched through Castiel’s eyes as he was captured on his journey through Hell, strung up on a rack and then given to Dean to torture, but also give him mercy when no one was looking.   He had ended up pulling Castiel out of Hell while escaping himself, and she had felt with Castiel as his endless devotion grew, Dean becoming his purpose in life.  She had lived as Dean while bargaining to go to Hell with Castiel, once there quickly becoming a powerful demon by corrupting and loving an angel, becoming the angels’ new god.  Again as Castiel she had been insane, desperate and accidentally flying through time to meet a younger Dean.  She had been Jimmy, trying as hard as he could to keep Castiel alive as one of his sisters tried repeatedly to kill him.  She had been a compulsive liar with Castiel in a life where he had never even been an angel, born instead as a human.  She had been Dean, begging Castiel to go and save his future self from the croats, then having to try to find an equilibrium between the two beings, two halves to one coin.

She had lived their lives, and the lives that they could've lived, horribly depressing ones and the ones that ended happily. Even this was only a possibility, she had long since forgotten which reality was her Fathers original one, but knew she didn’t exist there.  This confusion, not knowing what she could say for fear or revealing other possibilities or the future of this possibility had she not interfered, was tiring and definitely did not work to her advantage in talking with the beings.  A wry smile crossed her face at this thought and she relaxed slightly, leaning back into the bench.  She knew so much about this place, about the future and past of it, and yet it didn’t help her one bit in actually interacting with it.

Still, maybe this new idea of hers could work, maybe, just maybe, she could actually change something for the better.

 

~*~

 

_* Beep * Beep * Beep * Beep *_

The insistent noise of an alarm clock broke through Deans sleep, and he grumbled, fishing around on the table next to him for a couple moments before realizing it was on the other side of the bed.  He turned over and promptly ran into a warm body.  It let out a noise of protest and then there was a crashing noise and the alarm went silent.  Enjoying the morning drowsiness, Dean snuggled further into the warmth. 

_Wait, crap._ Dean froze, realizing that the warmth was a man, naked and in his bed.  He never brought men back to their rooms, hoping Sam hadn’t noticed he turned over and looked to where Sam should be sleeping.  And cue the second big surprise of the day.  He was in a room on his own, if you didn’t count his bed partner, and quite a nice room actually, he should have noticed before, the bed was far too comfy for the type of motels they stayed in. 

It was a beautiful room, if he didn’t say so himself, entirely done in a color scheme of dark blues and greens, almost black hardwood flooring with scattered clothing and pale accents completing the look.  There was a large stained oak wardrobe on the wall in front of the bed, a closet on the right wall next to a closed door and a fancy chair in the corner, the remains of the alarm beneath it.   A window with drawn blue curtains covered half the left wall, but the designs on the walls were what really caught Deans eyes.  The base colors were dark gradient shades of green and blue, but lace like and flowing black lines of Enochian writing covered it, creating an amazing mural that completely surrounded the room.

“Dean?” Cas’s voice cut through his haze and he twisted around, staring at the angel who was looking sleep-rumpled, confused and definitely naked in his bed.  His mind froze at this for a second, then realization set in

_“Keriel!_ Shit!” Dean swore, flipping his pillow over to grab his knife, thankful that it was still there.  Last thing he remembered they had been standing in the middle of a ring of fire and she had been spitting nonsense about jellyfish before using some sort of angel mojo on them

“I can’t feel her anywhere, or anything dangerous.”  Cas frowned and sat up, the sheets falling down and not helping at all with Deans ability to concentrate “This isn’t where we were before”

“Thanks Sherlock.  Care to explain why?” He asked, noticing that he was also naked and choosing to ignore it for the time being

“No, I mean that this is a different reality, a different timeline” Cas breathed and, concerned, Dean turned to him, trying to figure out the awe in the angels voice.  He had his head tilted to the side and was mutely mouthing the words written on the walls, an amazed expression on his face

“So like a djinn’s alternate reality?” He asked, trying to bring both their attentions back to figuring out where the heck they were and how to get out

Cas looked surprised, jumping slightly at his voice, then looked guilty, taking one last look at the wall before his blue gaze honed in on Dean.  “No, rather like the timeline Zachariah sent you to during the apocalypse, although I would guess that this one branches off quite a bit differently than the way you described that one”

His breath caught at the memory of the Croaton timeline, Lucifer in Sam’s body, Cas a broken and drugged up hippie and himself an emotionless torturer.  Shoving himself out of bed Dean scrambled to the window and threw open the curtains, trying to reassure himself that this was not that croat infested future.  Far from grounding him though, the scenery enthralled him.  The window looked out at about the second floor over a huge grassy area that turned into a forest with a little stream running out of it, pooling down a waterfall and into a small rock surrounded pond.  It reminded him of a vacation home him, Sam, and Dad had broke into during a hunt for a vengeful spirit.  He didn’t remember much about it, except that it had a pond much like this one, and Sam had been so thrilled, beginning Dad to let them stay for a bit and swim.

A curious wet feeling on his thighs distracted him, and he looked down, shocked to see come trickling down the insides of his legs, drawing his attention to the uncomfortable feeling that happened post gay sex when one was the catcher.  Okay, what the fuck.  He had zero recollection of that happening, and Dean Winchester bottomed for no one.

“Do you recognize where we are?  I’m not immediately able to tell” Cas’s voice once again brought him back to the present and he whipped around to find Cas contemplating him, his eyes far lower than what Dean was comfortable with right now.

"Dude!" He scrambled for something to cover up with, grabbing a shirt and sitting down on the chair, wincing at the pull in his ass.  Cas looked back up at his face, not the slightest hint of hesitance showing at being caught staring.  Dean internally winced, the guy probably didn't even know he should be embarrassed, though the brothel incident would say otherwise.

"Yes Dean?" Nope, no way Cas could be that innocent

"You don't just check out random guys" Dean protested, squirming slightly

"You are not a random guy Dean" Cas said, looking like he couldn't comprehend what Deans problem was.  "Furthermore, all evidence suggests that we recently copulated here"

Dean gaped at the angel, sure his cheeks were turning a shade of red previously unknown to mankind.  After a few moments of imitating a fish, he decided to completely ignore it.

"Just, where is here anyways?" He asked, trying _not_ to stutter in unease, and trying _to_ concentrate.

Luckily Cas took the hint and stood up, clothed in an instant, though instead of his usual attire, he was wearing form fitting jeans and a blue t-shirt that had previously been on the floor.  He glanced down at himself with a slightly surprised expression, but then seemed to decide he liked it, turning back to Dean and waiting.

"Umm, nice clothes?" It came out as more of a question than Dean had intended, and then he motioned for Cas to turn around "I'm not changing with you staring at me"

With the angelic equivalent of an exasperated sign, Cas turned around and Dean quickly picked the rest of the clothes off the floor and threw them on, ignoring the slick feeling between his legs.  The two of them left the room quietly, Dean holding his knife slightly in front of him and Cas leading.  They walked down a hallway, ignoring closed doors on either side and coming to a stairway, silently descending. At the bottom they found themselves in a living area, complete with a couch, couple bookshelves and a TV, nice and homely.  Cas kept on moving, but Dean lowered his hand and strode up to a collection of pictures above one of the bookshelves, reaching out to pull one of them off the wall.

It was a picture taken in front of the pool outside, though it was night and there were lawn chairs and people surrounding it.  Bobby, Ellen and John looked to be deep in discussion, while Mary was laughing next to Gabriel, the trickster with a slightly abashed look on his face, holding up a candy bar as if in supplication. Sam had a disgusted look on his face as Dean leaned over to kiss Cas, smiling through the kiss as Cas's hand clutched his arm over the handprint.  Jo and Jess were laughing next to Sam, Jess clutching Jo's arm and leaning over in complete and total amusement.  The picture could have been taken yesterday. 

Dean looked up at Cas, feeling completely lost.  Cas reached over his shoulder to angle the picture differently, looked over it and then back at Dean, pausing for a moment as his eyes went out and then back in focus

"They're all alive in this timeline" he said softly, moving closer to Dean "Most of them have even been in this room relatively recently, I can feel an imprint of their souls"

Dean took shaky steps to the couch and collapsed on it, the photograph clutched tightly in his hand, as usual Cas followed, sitting down beside him.  Dean pressed into Cas’s side, completely absorbed in taking in this new information.  In this reality, him and Cas were together. In this reality, his parents were alive.  In this reality Bobby, Ellen, Jo, Jess and even fucking Gabriel were all alive!  If they were all here, then maybe even more people Dean had lost were here too.

"And this isn't like a dijnn's illusion right?" Dean asked Cas, desperately searching the angels face "This is real, like what Keriel said, just a possibility of what could've happened?"

Cas tilted his head, frowning slightly at Dean, then his expression cleared again.  "As far as I can tell this is all real.  I won't truly know until I can see if the people here have real souls, but yes.  This is just a different timeline, how things could have been, were different major decisions made at some point in time. If you died here, you will be dead in our timeline as well"

Dean stared helplessly at Cas, his usual form of bluntly stating the truth not even enough to break through the huge revelation.  In a regular dijnn illusion, you would kill yourself to get out of it. If they couldn't do that here, how long would they be stuck in this alternate timeline? And, even more importantly, when the time came for them to leave, would Dean even want to?


	5. Albums, Vessels, and Sweetened Condescend Milk

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And back to writing.   
> If the characters seem OOC, it's explained in parts throughout this chapter. I know that doesn't help at all, but still...

Cas was at a loss, sitting next to his charge and pressing into his side, trying to impart some comfort but not knowing exactly how.  Dean was clutching at the photograph, his fingers white and breathing labored staring at it like it meant the world to him.

"We can see them before trying to get back" Cas suggested uncertainly, sure that Dean wanted to see his family if they were still alive.  He wasn't clear on how Dean felt about them being together here, he had been quite uncomfortable with the physical evidence of such, so this would take his mind off of that at least.

"But what then?" Dean murmured, finally tearing his eyes away to look into Cas' blue ones "Cas, what if it’s not enough?"

And Cas understood instantly.  Dean had had so little good happen in his life, so few people stayed with him, by dying or just choosing to leave.  In a place like this where everyone came back to him, how would he deal going back to the loss of their world?  Especially since he knew it was real and not just an illusion.  Cas himself had left Dean for purgatory already, and knew of Deans abandonment issues.  If Keriel was planning on getting Dean out of the picture by placing him in this reality, then she was just as cunning as she had been before she disappeared.  Cas hadn't known her very well, an archangel caught up in her own possibilities of worlds had little time for individual seraphim, but he had seen how like Lucifer she had been, a difference in her eyes that screamed rebellion.

He finally settled on placing his hand on Deans knee, a familiar gesture he had seen Sam do, though it had always been rebuffed, Deans soul had pulsed slightly at the contact as it did now.  The shining soft green soul, the color of pale beauty moths with a hint of blue shining brighter even as it pulls away, desperate for the comfort but wary still at the gesture.  Even if the end game to this was malicious, Dean deserved some good memories.  It wasn’t purely selfless though, from the comforting Enochian words written in what appeared to be his and Dean’s bedroom, to the semen that had been running down Dean’s naked leg, and the picture of the two of them kissing, Cas wasn’t sure he wanted to leave.  If the two of them were actually together and Cas was a part of Dean’s family, this timeline may hold relationships that Cas had previously only secretly longed for.  Not believing he had even though Dean had called him family.

"We should go and talk to them." Cas said softly "I am uncertain as to how long we will be here, so we have time to indulge"

Dean snorted at this, but was interrupted by the sudden screeching of guitars and shouted words coming suddenly from his pocket.  Cas perked up at this, waiting as Dean fumbled for his pocket, eventually pulling out a phone and answering it.

“Hello?” Dean greeted, meeting Cas’ gaze and holding it.  The seraph could barely hear anything from the other side, but recognized the tones of the younger hunter, Sam.   It was very irritating not being privy to both sides of the conversation, Cas reflected as it continued.  “Oh, ya, umm, sure.  Yup, we’ll still be here.  Oh? Jess is coming too? The hunt, vampires? No, we’re still going after them.  Of course.  You retired from hunting?! Two years—no, of course, ya.  No, I’m fine, don’t worry about me.  Yes, I am sure.  I’ll see you soon.”

From what Cas had gathered from the conversation, Dean bolting up and racing towards the bookshelves, yanking out books and searching through them had not been high up on the list of assumed reactions. 

“What are you doing?” He asked curiously, tilting his head to the side.

Dean barely stopped at Cas’ question, only briefly turning to answer. “Dude, photos.  We’re looking for photo albums, anything that will tell us anything about what is happening in this timeline thingy.  Sam and Jess are coming over, and I have no idea how we’re supposed to react.”

Cas nodded, acknowledging the reasoning behind the statement.  Standing up he moved to the bookshelf that Dean wasn’t looking through and started to search.  There were tons of books, a surprise as Cas had never noticed Dean to read _that_ much.  He could understand every book he saw though, a mixture of Vonnegut, hunting books and the like.  He was sidetracked by a book with a title in Russian, flipping it open and reading the first few lines about some strange strand of werewolf.  It was really familiar, Cas was sure he had never read it before, but it felt right, like he had.  He was cut short in his musings by Dean’s triumphant voice.

“Oh of course! They’re upstairs” He exclaimed, turning and taking the steps two at a time, disappearing down the hallway.  Cas glanced at the Russian book one more time, but put it back in its place and followed Dean, flapping his tormented wings once and wincing as he appeared in a study-like room.  He froze as soon as he landed, realizing there was something different about his grace.  He couldn’t quite tell what, it was like a memory just out of his reach, but he knew something was different, something had changed drastically.  His wings still felt tortured and he could feel grace running down them, but it was like they were muted, actually healing.  He had no idea why they were in such bad condition, only that it had to do with Dean, Sam and Keriel.  Something he was supposed to do.

At a noise from Dean Cas stepped forwards to examine the room, ignoring his grace for now as Dean pulled three flat black albums from a horizontal stack in the corner.  It was a small room with soft grey walls, housing a desk, some drawers and a couple boxes that Cas could feel were full of abnormal objects.  Choosing to ignore the decorations for the moment, Cas hovered over Dean’s shoulder, watching as the hunter put the albums down on the desk and flipped the first open to the front page.  The years ‘2010-2011’ were written in slightly messy writing, and a small picture of Cas, Dean and Sam graced the top.  All three of them looked happy and watching Dean who was pale and leaning on his seraph, but laughing. 

The current Dean flipped the pages slowly, each one showing different events that brought out all kinds of fond emotions.  A double sheet of hunting with Bobby, Ellen and Jo, a page of Gabriel, Balthazar and Cas in what looked to be a bar, another two pages taken up with Sam and Jess, the first one mostly casual while the second Sam stood in black and Jess in white, evidently a human wedding.  Dean stopped on those pictures, just staring at them.  Cas’ mind wasn’t sure what to do, but muscle memory prompted him into cupping the back of Deans neck and moving closer like he was protecting the hunter.  Rather than shake the affection off, Dean flashed him a grateful smile and moved on.  The rest of the album was filled with more happy moments of dead—though not dead here—people, Dean, Sam and Cas, the Dean in the pictures gradually returning to a healthy look as the album chronologically progressed.

“What happened Cas?” Dean finally murmured as he got to the end of the first album, turning it over when Cas couldn’t give an answer and looking to the next ones.  The second album featured Dean and Cas more heavily, beginning with Sam and Jess buying a home and moving in, then passing through to just Dean and Cas hunting, pictures of their relationship slowly progressing until near the end of that album which found the two of them also moving into a house, one Cas recognized as the home around them.  The third album was only partway filled and luckily no more big discoveries were made in it, just photos that could’ve belonged to any human family, at least one for whom weapons and roads were a common occurrence.  

Only when they were through the third album did Cas finally answer Dean, replying that he didn’t know.  They stood still for a while longer before a thought struck Cas and he pulled back, drawing Dean’s attention back to him. 

“How did you know the albums were here?” Cas asked, thinking of the many things he had done that seemed so familiar.

“Of course they’re here, they’ve always been here” Dean looked taken aback by this question, but as soon as he realized what he had said he paused, freezing and staring at Cas with wide eyes.  “Okay, so not cool.  How the hell did I know where these things were and yet I’ve never seen any of the pictures in them.  For that matter, how do I know where anything is in here?  It all feels so normal”

Cas bit his lip, tilting his head in thought.  He spoke slowly when he replied “I recognized a book downstairs that I haven’t read, and it feels normal to offer you physical contact as comfort.”

“Fuck.” Dean replied, searching Cas’ face as if he knew all the answers. “So basically all the fake memories from this place are randomly appearing in both our heads.  Well that’ just brilliant.”

“They wouldn’t be fake memories, remember this is a possibility of something that could’ve happened, perhaps the memories and lives from this possibility are becoming our own.  Can you still remember everything that--” Cas cut off suddenly, reaching for the first album and turning it open to the first page, ignoring Dean’s noise of confusion and pulling the photo of the two of them with Sam out, turning it over to the inscription on the back.

Dean was the one to read it aloud  “ _November 27, 2010.  Michael left Dean today, no vegetable vessel symptoms.  All conditions were met, yippee!”_

“You said yes to Michael in this timeline.” Cas deduced numbly, almost cursing angelic memory as he got a flashback to beating Dean up in an ally, furious and terrified at the mistake he had only barely stopped Dean from making.  Or had he been furious and terrified because he hadn’t managed to stop Dean from making that mistake?

“Holy fuck, I said yes to Michael in this timeline.” Dean repeated, his eyes widening and breath beginning to pant.  The hunter turned around, met Cas’ gaze and then moved forwards, burying his face into the seraph’s neck and grabbing onto him.  Cas’ arms instantly came up to wrap around the hunter and he made a low soothing noise in the back of his throat. 

After a few moments of this embrace however, Dean stiffened.  “Cas.  Why are we hugging?”

Cas paused, slightly confused to this as well, tried to think back to another time that they had hugged.  “You hugged me in purgatory”

“Ya, well I didn’t just spend the last better part of the year killing monsters to try and find you even though I thought that you might be dead” Dean replied, still making no motion to step back from him.  Come to think about it, Cas was also quite enjoying this contact.  “Do you think being Michael’s angel condom changed me?”

Cas frowned, pulling back so he could take Dean’s head in his hands and search his eyes.  Gently he extended his grace, moving it through Dean and biting his lip as he realized he could feel grace in the hunter.  He listed his findings as he found them.  “You have residues of Michael’s grace around the outside of your soul, they’re only small pieces though, if you were his vessel you haven’t been so in a long time.  You actually have more of my grace already in you, both in and on your lower body, throat and inside your soul.  My handprint still contains my grace as well”

“What? Why do I have your grace in me?” Dean asked, and Cas was pleased to note that although he sounded surprised, he wasn’t angry.  Cas was about to reply, but then Dean blushed and stopped him.  “Oh, you know what, don’t answer that.”

Cas tilted his head, but nodded, withdrawing his searching grace.  As he pulled it back however, he gasped, now looking introspectively.  His grace _was_ reviving itself from its tortured state, getting healthier than it had been in a long time, probably since Father resurrected him after Sam, Michael and Lucifer fell into the pit.  If he was truly living with Dean and outside of heaven, his grace should be leaving, not coming back and healing.  Memories of a woman tearing at his wings with his own blade suddenly shot through his mind and he flinched, pulling them closer to him, too afraid to look and see them damaged.  Looking further into his grace, Cas found a small softly pulsing bit that he was unconsciously drawing from, grace that did not belong to him, but was a part of a bond.  A bond with _Michael_.

“What’s wrong?” Dean asked, now framing Cas’ face with his hands as if he also had grace to search Cas out. “Cas, you okay?  I’m kinda getting concerned here buddy.”

“I’m bonded to Michael.” Cas replied softly, circling the bond warily.  “It’s old, perhaps three or so years, but I’m using it to replenish my grace.”

“Wait, bonded? What kind of bond?” Dean asked, his hands gripping tighter

Cas narrowed his eyes, continuing to outwardly watch Dean as he answered.  “I don’t know.  It’s like, it’s here and I think I’ve been actively using it since I woke up this morning, but I believe that’s it only purpose, as if instead of me being connected to heaven, I’m connected to Michael.”

The sound of a door opening and voices from below interrupted any more conversation, and instantly both Dean and Cas were on high alert, making no noise as they left the room, Dean wordlessly grumbling about leaving his knife downstairs. 

As if responding to that, Sam’s voice rang out. “Dean, seriously, the vampires are not in your living room, no need to have knives in the table.”

Dean and Cas exchanged a glance, and then Dean moved to go down the stairs, Cas following.  Upon getting to the landing Cas watched as a totally different Sam walked over to Dean and embraced his brother.  The blond woman who had arrived with Sam—Jessica, something in his mind supplied—did the same with Cas.  This time muscle memory wasn’t quick enough and Cas only belatedly remembered he was supposed to respond to the hug.  He had had more physical contact in the past hour than he had in the whole rest of his time in a vessel.

“Hey Cas, relapsing back into your angel days?” Jessica asked in mirth

“I’m still an angel” Cas replied, he was bonded to Michael so his grace was still there, was he not actually an angel here?  Jessica only laughed in reply, turning and walking to another room—the kitchen.

“Ya, you and Dean are both acting strangely, did you have a hunt with a dijnn recently?” Sam asked, a quick sweep showed no suspicion in his soul, so Cas nodded and Dean this time followed his lead.  Sam took the story to heart and replied “Well we’re just running in and out, but you’ll have to tell us that story later.  I can’t imagine what else you guys would want, especially after Dean’s big freak out at the last anniversary of Michael leaving about how everything was going right.”

“I do not freak out!” Dean replied, sounding offended as Sam laughed and patted him on the shoulder.

“Oh no, of course you don’t.  You definitely didn’t pull me away from supper just to tell me that ‘all the angels are gone except Cas, Gabriel and Balthazar, it’s been three years and Michael actually kept his promises and how did that all happen?’” Sam mimicked.  Luckily, before Dean could argue and potentially blow their cover, Jessica returned from the other room and announced that she had the ‘sweetened condensed milk’ and that she knew Cas baked, but it was still really sad for them to not have certain foods when the hunters who only spent half their time in their house did. 

“I just forgot to pick it up,” Sam argued, bringing out what Dean would label the puppy dog face.

True to form, Dean grinned, reaching up and patting Sam’s head as he teased, “It’s okay little puppy, I’m sure Jess will forgive you.”

Sam wrinkled his nose in annoyance at that, grinning himself when he realized how that just furthered Dean’s point.  He looked like he wanted to chat more, but Jess ushered him towards the door.  “Nope, we’re going to get out before the sun goes down, and you guys chat like hens if I let you”

“Fine” Sam responded exaggeratingly, rolling his eyes before turning back to Dean as they left. “I haven’t seen you in two weeks, so we’re going for coffee the day after tomorrow, eleven o’clock at Cream and Sugar.  Cas, I’m counting on you to wake him up and get him out, because that is a really reasonable time.”

“I will make sure he remembers.” Cas responded gravely.  Sam grinned and thanked him, then the four of them exchanged goodbyes and the house fell silent once more.  Cas turned back to Dean, who had his hands clasped in front of his face and was resting his head on them.  “Dean?”

Dean turned his head to look at Cas, narrowing his eyes like he was deciding what to say.  “Alright Cas.  _I_ am going to sleep.  _You_ are going to figure out what’s up with the whole Michael bond, but you are also staying in my sight at all times.”

Cas tilted his head in confusion, but Dean just dropped his hands, stalking past the seraph and going back upstairs.  “I don’t think that we would be separated in this reality, if Keriel had wanted us apart she wouldn’t have put us in the same place.”

The laugh he received from that was harsh and sad, but Dean didn’t reply until he had stripped off his jeans and shirt and then thrown himself down and onto the bed in the room they woke up in.  When he finally did speak, it was quiet, like he was admitting to some weakness he didn’t want to have.  “I’m not worried about Keriel separating us.”

“Then why are you specifically asking me to stay with you?” Cas asked

“Are you kidding? You fucking have to ask?” Dean said incredulously, glaring at the seraph.  “Because you used to be so good about being there for me, but now you always leave.  You left me in purgatory, you left me for purgatory, then you stayed in the nursing home and only popped up again to kill Alfie.

Cas jerked back as if struck and Dean stopped, rubbing one hand over his face and then continuing in a quieter tone.  “I’m sorry, that was uncalled for.  This whole thing has just been really confusing and there are dead people walking around, apparently I said yes to Michael and you’re bonded to the dude.  Just, please don’t leave.  Stay here so that I know where you are.  I meant what I said man, I need you.  More now than ever.”

This soft confession caught Cas off guard more than the previous accusations and he nodded without replying, standing and watching Dean as he tried to sleep.  There were a few minutes of awkward silence before Dean sighed theatrically and motioned Cas over.

“Alright, this isn’t working.  Get in the bed.”  Dean said, pulling back the covers.  “And no funny stuff, there was enough of that which I can’t remember from last night.”

A warm happy feeling blossomed through Cas and he moved over, slipping into the bed beside Dean.  “I won’t leave.”

Dean smiled, closing his eyes and finally letting himself relax.  “Good”


	6. Conditions, Wings, and Manipulations

_“Hey.  I’m Dean Winchester, do you know who I am?” Dean asked, hating himself even as he did so._

_“Dear God” The bible guy exclaimed and Dean blinked incredulously_

_“I’ll take that as a yes” Dean replied, “Listen, I need you to pray to your angel buddies and let them know that I’m here.”_

_“Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed by thy name,” The man began to pray_

_“Why thank you” The voice came from behind Dean and he turned to scowl at Zachariah.  The angel merely grinned, promising the bible guy that God was pleased with him and then striding up to Dean.  “Ah, Dean.  So you’ve finally_ _decided to make the right call”_

_“Stuff it dickwad, if I’m saying yes, I want to talk to Michael.”  Dean spat, pissed off and hopeless.  If he couldn’t do anything right for the world as himself, maybe he could fix a few last things before he was burned out in his life as an angel condom.  Much to Dean’s disappointment, Zachariah didn’t even rise to the bait, instead striding forwards and tapping him on the forehead, the world reappearing around him in the same room from where he was when Lucifer rose._

_Zachariah looked gleeful for a moment before his face turned sour and he stated in disapproval, “Michael will speak with you, I suggest you show him respect”_

_Before Dean could let out a scathing retort, a voice spoke in his head and everything turned white, the hunter stumbling into the wall to hold himself up._

_“ **Hello Dean Winchester.  You’ve finally agreed to be my vessel then?”** Michael asked, his tone suggesting a promising mix of annoyance and amusement.  _

_“I’ve got a few conditions on that” Dean replied, once again going over the list he had compiled on the way over, making sure he hadn’t forgotten anyone or thing.  He was quite proud of it, for all the depressive mood he was in he had managed to compile quite a few fancy words._

**_“And what would those be”_ ** _Somehow the archangel managed to make his question into a statement, and Dean would’ve snorted at his arrogance any other time._

_“Sam, Cas and Bobby are protected.  I don’t care what happens, no one, angel, demon, human or otherwise is allowed to hurt them.  Doesn’t matter if you have to give them guard dogs for the duration of using me as a vessel, I want them safe.  Also, Cas gets his grace back, all powered up and so that he’ll stay that way, but give him an open ended choice whether he wants to go back to heaven or not.”  Dean said the words quickly, like he thought Michael wouldn’t interrupt or stop him.  Now for the really big requests.  “And the world stays as it is, no big paradise thing.  You can lock Lucy back into his cage, but I’m your vessel and you are not going to bring about the apocalypse.  Also, you’re going to bring back those who died because of this whole thing.  Ellen, Jo, Jess, Mary, all of them.”_

_His demands were met with stony silence and he was dimly aware of Zachariah scornfully speaking in the physical world around him.  Finally though, Michael did reply. **“You wish for me to lock my brother back in hell and leave this world in the ruin it is instead of bringing about paradise.”**_

_“Ya I do.  You angels are the only ones who want your big fucking paradise, us humans are quite pleased with the way things are around here.  You’ve got heaven already and if you think that’s paradise then you’d better just stay up there.”  Dean retorted, “But first you have to clean up your mess with Luce, so lock him away and get the hell off of the earth”_

**_“Like what you said to Castiel when Lucifer rose.  You actually would rather the pain of earth than the peace we could bring.”_ ** _Michael referred to the first part of what Dean said, again making it a statement and expecting an answer._

_“Yes I would” Dean replied defiantly, refusing to let the archangel cow him **.**_

**_“Laid out, the conditions of your agreement to being my vessel are immunity and protection for Sam Winchester, Bobby Singer and Castiel.  A full pardon for Castiel as well as free will, and that I would cage Lucifer again instead of bringing about the cleansing.”_** _Michael drawled, and no, Dean had not known that an angel_ could _even drawl out their words.  “ **You do not think that that many people being brought back would raise questions?  I will bring back those who were aware of supernatural happenstances.  No more than that”**_

_Dean paused, slightly upset by this.  Then again, he hadn’t expected that request to be even considered, and it did have a wide range depending on how ‘aware’ was categorized.  Then another thought hit him and he decided to bargain, one changed request for a different smaller one for Gabriel.  He didn’t like the trickster, but back in that warehouse he had sympathized with the dude.  It wasn’t like Michael was just going to give up and say no to everything.  Right? “Alright, just people who were close to me.  And in that case, give Gabriel the chance to go back to heaven or stay on earth.  Free will like Cas.”_

**_“So, in addition to the previous statement, Gabriel will also be given free will and supernaturally aware people will be returned to life.”_ ** _Michael amended and Dean let out a noise of agreement.  Michael paused for long enough that Dean began to wonder if he wanted a worded reply, but finally spoke again. **“I’ll accept those conditions”**_

**_“_ ** _What?” Dean instantly asked, not expecting the easy acquiesce, he had thought there’d be quite a bit more discussion on what needed to change. Well, best agree before he changed his mind.  “Oh, okay.  Well, if you accept those conditions then yes.  On the condition that my conditions are met, I consent to being your vessel.”_

_Dean didn’t even have time to be scared—more than he already was—before the world explored into light and everything condensed into the feeling of pure_ light _pouring into him.  Dean could feel Michael everywhere, filling up his senses, twining around his soul and taking control of his body, his meat suit.  It was terrifying and exhilarating all at once, Jimmy had spoken of being chained to a comet, but this was more that being surrounded by a star going supernova.  Dean could feel everything and nothing at once in a moment that seemed to stretch eons.  There was only pure grace, filling every atom of him and settling into him like his body had always been its home._

_Gradually the feeling faded though, and when he opened his eyes it was Michael looking out, Michael who faced Zachariah in the green room and spoke words that sowed quickly driven out unease.  “There has been a change in plans.”_

_“What do you mean? What’s happening?” Zachariah responded, this evidently not being the reaction he had expected of his superior.  That Michael would bow to the demands of a human was almost unthinkable.  Nevertheless, the archangel gave out orders, ignoring the hesitation and threateningly pretending it did not exist.  Actions were modified, angels were given places and finally a sense of purpose stole through the eldest archangel as he turned his gaze away from Zachariah.  At the prompting of his vessel he shifted away, taking wing without any further acknowledgment and landing just outside a large house with broken down cars edging it.  Michael’s younger brother moved instantly at his arrival, human eyes widening and faded and broken down grace flaring in fear.  The younger sibling of Michael’s vessel and his brother’s vessel stood beside Castiel though the seraph pushed him back, unsheathing his angel blade and hopelessly stepping forward to brandish it at the archangel much like a cornered mouse might to a wolf if it didn’t just go to sleep.  The vessel’s brother cried out at the actions, both in fear and confusion, his demon blood tainted soul whirling._

_“Michael” Castiel hissed, smelling both fearful and resigned.  For a second the archangel was confused as to why Castiel did not just fly the younger—Sam Winchester, to safety, but then looked at his wings and realized how tattered they were.  Castiel knew he was about to die and didn’t have enough grace to flee.  Without replying, Michael stepped forwards, calmly walking up to his younger brother and catching his hesitantly swung sword on his own.  Though his older brother was threatening him, Castiel still did not want any harm to come to Michael’s vessel who was now screaming in fear, shouting about not hurting either of the people in front of them._

_“I mean you no harm Castiel.” Michael stated, trying to soothe both his vessel and younger brother.  When Castiel continued to fruitlessly fight, Michael quickly disarmed the younger angel, pushing him back and ignoring Sam who was trying to figure out how to separate the two of them._

_“Calm yourself” Michael commanded, “There were conditions to my vessel’s surrender.”_

_This caused no reaction in Castiel except for his eyes quickly flicking to Sam, and Michael realized that the younger angel had incorrectly assumed he had not been part of the conditions.  Before he could do anything to change this assumption, another human, Bobby Singer, appeared at the entrance to the house, brandishing a shotgun and holding a jar of holy oil, which he quickly passed to Sam.  Michael glared at this action, but sheathed his blade and reached out, grabbing Castiel’s wings._

_This action only doubled the angel’s struggles and Castiel pled for Michael to kill him quickly instead of drawing it out.  Sadness flowed through Michael at these words, mixing terribly with the betrayal from his vessel and the archangel allowed himself only a fleeting maudlin moment.  What had the host become that even a traitor thought that he would be tortured to death instead of cleanly executed?  His vessel chose this time to angrily remind him of when ‘you assholes pulled Cas back to heaven’, and Michael concurred, the host had become this a long time ago, when Michael had been told to throw his favorite brother into hell._

_“I will not kill you” Michael replied to Castiel’s pleas, quickly moving now instead of letting the situation become anymore saturated with fear.  Still gripping Castiel’s wings, Michael poured his grace into the younger angel, letting it spread through wings and repair them, twirling across his broken grace and filling the blank parts.  Michael’s vessel had made it clear that Castiel was to be free from any tethers to heaven and stay ‘powered up’, but he had neglected to refuse any tethers to Michael himself.  With this, not exactly loophole, Michael created a bond near the center of Castiel’s grace, binding the younger angel to him so that if he fell again, he’d be only cut off from heaven unless he chose to return, but still able to draw grace from the most powerful archangel.  Pulling his grace back, he took with him a small portion of the younger angels grace to place in it within his own, completing the bond._

_Once the grace transfer was over, Michael stepped back and away, briefly glancing at the holy oil lines that Bobby and Sam had been drawing, but dismissing them to watch his younger brother.  Castiel was bent over, panting and drawing his once again beautiful wings close to him even as he stared up at Michael in disbelief.  Bobby questioned his wellness and Michael tilted his head to the side, also wondering how the bond felt.  He himself could feel Castiel, feel him alive and well now, a miasmas of emotions rolling off of him that luckily had no transference through the bond._

_“Why?” Castiel asked, his voice only a whisper._

_Michael smiled with his repeated answer, attempting to further console the young seraph.  He hadn’t necessary agreed with all the conditions, but had been previously advised by an archangel long thought dead to agree to them.  “There were conditions to my vessel’s surrender.”_

 

~*~

 

Dean gasped awake, breathing heavily at the dream—no, the memory. 

“Dean? Are you okay?” Cas asked from beside him and Dean turned, automatically burrowing into the angel and vaguely wondering when he had gotten this tactile around Cas, ‘cause he didn’t think he usually was.  Then again, the two of them lived together, regularly fucked and loved each other, so it couldn’t be unusual.

“I said yes to Michael, I went to the bible guy after I banished you and you didn’t get there in time to stop me.  Fuck, I had so many conditions too, and he agreed with them all, and then I _was_ Michael, and I healed your wings—which, by the way, I remember Keriel saying were not in great shape, so you need to tell me so we can fix them.”  Dean rambled into Cas’ chest, shuddering at the feeling of being completely and utterly surrounded and out of control when he was housing an archangel.  “And Keriel had gone and told Michael to agree with the conditions and he listened to them, which must be what she was talking about when she was rambling on about creating new possibilities and now I‘m rambling.  And I don’t know who Keriel is”

Dean snapped his mouth shut, forcing himself to stop going on and just find comfort in being close to Cas.  This new memory was extremely frightening because Dean actually knew it was a memory, it wasn’t just a feeling or a certain reaction.  It was exactly what had happened, yet Dean couldn’t shake the feeling that something else had happened.  He knew that Cas had been there, Cas had beaten him up and stopped him from saying yes, but he hadn’t thought that he had a plan of conditions.  Or actually, maybe he had… But then he would’ve been able to actually say them, ‘cause he hadn’t been angry about not being able to use them.  Which was because he had given Michael his conditions, Cas had only been there after Michael had used Dean as a vessel.

Trying to shy away from this startling new development, Dean waited for Cas—who had gone completely still—to answer. “Cas? What’s wrong with your wings?”

“I don’t remember.” Cas quietly answered, his slightly off tone showing the amount of fear a human normally would show with screaming or curling up in a ball.  “There was an angel who was torturing me, doing something to my vessels brain.  She was making me forget, but also do things like kill Samandriel.  I think she was going to make me kill you.  But my wings are healing, they’ll be fine, my bond with Michael is fixing them.”

Dean also stilled at this admission. There was an angel who was torturing and mind wiping Cas while forcing him to kill his friends? Oh fuck, whoever it was wasn’t going to live long once Dean got his hands on her.  Dean could only just recall an insane creature telling him that they were being manipulated and didn’t know it. Neither him nor Sam had had any idea that Cas was being tortured, had even gone so far as to lock him out.  He couldn’t quite remember what they had been locked Cas out of, but Cas’ wings were more important than what might or might not have happened in the past.

Cas was still tense in his arms and so Dean pulled back, still holding the seraph, but at arm’s length.  He demanded, “Unless it’s some really private or scandalous angel custom, show me your wings.”

“It’s not.” Cas said, but still hesitated until Dean assured him that it wasn’t his fault and he wasn’t angry for whatever Cas had or was going to do.  With this reassurance, Cas finally moved, sitting cross-legged and uncharacteristically playing with the hem of his shirt.  “I can’t show you my exact wings because they’d burn your eyes out and you only saw a shadow before, but I can show you an approximation of what they look like and solidify them.”

Dean nodded, propping himself up on one elbow and running his thumb in circles on Cas’ leg.  The angel refused to meet his eyes as black lines formed into wings that moved up and over his shoulders, sloping back down and being forced to spread or else they’d hit the floor.  They were huge and would be flawlessly beautiful if not for the scars, scratches and bent quills that only came from torture.  The arches were split open, exposing the bone and bleeding sluggishly.  Horror filled Dean as he saw them.  He had seen Cas’ wings many times since the two of them had started their relationship, but never this bad.  Wait, if he had seen them before, why had he asked after customs?

“These are in the process of healing?!” Dean asked incredulously, sitting up and staring for a moment before he managed to get out, “Okay, fuck, okay.  How do we fix them faster?  ‘Cause you can heal me from all that you have then I know its possible for you to heal yourself.  And let me tell you man, I hurt just from looking at them.”

“There isn’t anything really that you can do.  They’ll heal in time” Cas said, attempting to draw the wings tight against his back.

He evidentially wanted to put them away and forget it, but Dean refused to be diverted.  “What about that soul healing that you did with Bobby, the siphoning of energy or whatever the fuck you do? That happened right?”

“I’ve never done that before.” Cas said in confusion

Dean paused, that’s true, Cas hadn’t done that, so how did he know about it? Well, anyways, that wasn’t what was important right now.  “Well that’s just too bad ‘cause you’re going to do it now.  Siphon energy, heal your wings.”

Cas bit his lip, looking far more hesitant than Dean have ever seen him look before.  Finally, he nodded, letting his angelic emotionless mask fall over his face.  “It’s very delicate to siphon energy off a soul, so you’ll need to be completely still for this, lay down on your back.”

Dean complied, allowing himself to be maneuvered like a rag doll until he was lying back on the bed with Cas’ belt in-between his teeth, Cas straddling him with the seraph’s palm on his chest. 

“You are sure about this?”  Cas asked one last time and Dean barely managed to stop himself from rolling his eyes.

He took a moment to remove the belt from his mouth just long enough to get out, “Cas, I already feel like I’m staring in some angel-fetish porno and what I’m about to say is just going to further that, so get your hand inside me now and fix yourself.”

To Dean’s endless surprise, Cas actually blushed at that, avoiding Dean’s eyes.  Luckily though, before Dean could unintentionally get them even more side tracked with a comment, Cas began to press down with his hand.  It hurt.  Like, _really_ hurt.  Dean could feel Cas’ hand sinking into his chest and was automatically trying to fight it, his eyes slamming shut and biting down hard on the leather.  It felt like some foreign being was trying to force its way into Deans soul, which, thinking about it, was pretty much exactly what was happening

“Try and relax, let me in” Cas ground out from above Dean, his voice strained.  Right, this was for Cas, Castiel, who had fucking pulled Dean from hell and then trailed after him doing whatever he asked without asking anything in return.  Dean could afford to give Cas this, he _owed_ Cas this if not everything else.  It wasn’t ‘some foreign being’ touching his soul, this was Cas.  With this thought, Dean let go, surrendering to the angel above him.  Cas needed his soul to fix his wings? The guy could have it all. 

Dean heard a gasp from above him as the pain abruptly disappeared and was replaced by firey warmth as his soul and mind recognized Cas, yielding instead of fighting.  Cas’ hand slipped easily into his chest now, taking the energy he needed to heal his wings and then withdrawing, leaving both of them panting like they had just gone on a marathon.   Dean regained full mental capacities to find Cas collapsed fully onto him and his wings creating a mountainous cocoon around the two of them.  Dean spat out the leather, uncertain as to what to say and choosing to rub circles into Cas’ back, hoping to provide comfort as they both relaxed in the aftermath.  He should be weirded out by being so close to Cas, laying underneath the guy like the angelic porno he had just been joking about, but it was just so normal.  It was nice and cozy, and apparently also turning him into a complete sap. 

“What did you dream about?” Cas asked, breaking into his little chick flick moment.  Oh right, that’s what had started this whole thing.

“Back when I said yes to Michael.  You remember that whole fun time.” Dean replied absentmindedly, enjoying the warmth before they would inevitably have to get out of bed.  Or maybe they should already be out of bed, it was quite late in the day and they did have a vampire nest that they were going after a couple towns over. 

“I thought that he was going to kill me” Cas murmured and Dean let out a soft noise of protest

“Oh fuck that, I’d never have said yes if he could just turn around and turn you into a burnt kebob.” Dean assured “That already happened with Anna, and while I’m not all choked up about that, I think I’d rather you stayed fluffy.”

“I regret to inform you that I never have been fluffy and am still not” Cas notified Dean, pushing himself up so he could meet the hunters eyes. 

Dean laughed, leaning forwards and capturing Cas’ lips for a quick kiss.  While the seraph was distracted Dean reached up and ran a hand down the underside of one of Cas’ exposed wings.  “You’re really fluffy love, you and your feathery ass.”

“I’m not fluffy and my ass is not feathery” Cas argued, smacking Dean with the wing he had grabbed.   “Now, get up, you were the one who wanted to get going to that vampire nest as soon as possible.  We are on a hunt, in case you forgot.”

Dean paused at this, “Weren’t we on a hunt with Sam? Hot Sulpher Springs or something?”

Cas frowned down at him in the process of standing, “Perhaps you had two dreams Dean, Sam hasn’t hunted for two years.”

Dean bit his lip, but nodded.  That in-between state from dream to life always confused things, though usually it lasted shorter.  It was weird being able to be this unprotected.  Then again, nothing major had happened in three years, extreme paranoia only went so far, but just paranoia was acceptable. 

“I had a dream about monsters and black liquid.”  Cas remarked absently and Dean could tell that the seraph was trying to get his mind off his dream by sharing one of his own.  “We were in a world of grays and browns, searching for something I think.  I wanted you to find what we were searching for, but I knew I wasn’t going to”

“Well that sucks” Dean declared, narrowing his eyes as he considered Cas’ dream.  Seriously, this whole day had been _really_ strange.  Speaking of oddities…  “Why do you have your wings out anyways?  I mean, you know I love them, but you usually keep them hidden.”

Cas stretched them as much as he could in the limited space of their room and rolled his shoulders as they disappeared. Dean had to stifle the protest that automatically came his lips at the loss, he really did love Cas’ wings, they were awesome badass things that totally lived up to the mysterious and dangerous angel of the Lord who had appeared in that barn so long ago.  “There was something I needed to do to fix them, I needed to use your soul.  Weren’t you awake?  I thought you were”

Once upon a time Dean would’ve instantly been defensive about any creature—supernatural or not—doing something with his soul without Dean’s knowledge, but with Cas he just shrugged.  “Hey, you’re allowed to my soul any time you need it.  And fuck but that was really sentimental and makes me feel like I’m gargling syrup, so we need to go and kill something right now.”

“Of course, you need to go reassert your masculinity.  I believe I recall Sam labeling this as ‘overcompensation’” Cas suggested, the air quotes ruining his somber expression. 

“Hey now, don’t be like that!” Dean protested, “You can never listen to Sam, he’s mean!”

Cas just grinned in reply, the sound of wings flapping coinciding with his disappearance.  Dean rolled his eyes as he made his way out of the room and downstairs to where he could hear Cas moving around in the kitchen.  The seraph had gotten better at the whole humor thing and took great amusement in both pop culture references and dry wit.  What he had not gotten better at was using doors and walking like normal people.  If not for his angelic metabolism and obsession with healthy foods, Cas would totally be flabby.  Or not, considering Dean wasn’t and he ate like there was no tomorrow.  Hey, maybe Cas had something to do with that, ‘cause come to think about it, Dean wasn’t exactly the healthiest guy, and yet still felt great when running around after monsters and the like.

Dean passed through the living room and frowned as he noticed his knife on the table.  Now when had he put that there?  This whole day was kinda fuzzy, but he couldn’t find it in himself to get worried.  That should’ve been a warning in and of itself, but again, the cycle repeated and no concern was felt.

The sudden displacement of air sent a ripple through the room and Dean whipped around to find a young woman sitting on the couch.  Her head was bowed as she looked at the blue book she held in apparent fascination.  Dean scooped up the knife, barking out Cas’ name and moving near the door to the kitchen, still facing the girl.

“Who are you? What are you doing here?” Cas asked, danger apparent in his voice as he appeared from the kitchen to stand beside Dean.  The girl looked up and Dean’s eyes widened as he saw hers.  There was no smell of ozone or sulfur to say she was anything but human, but her eyes were painted in ever-changing colors of the universe. 

The girl smiled softly, tilting her head as she watched the two of them with something like fondness.  “I’m Keriel”


	7. Confusing Conversations, Unsaintly Saints, and Uninformed Decisions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This seems rushed because it is rushed. I don't want to leave it unfinished, so I'm going to write an ending bit. One more chapter--really short--and this is done.

“Do you remember me?” The girl, Keriel, asked.  Cas glanced at Dean, but it didn’t look like the hunter recognized this creature either.  And what an interesting creature she was, with the grace of an archangel, but it was blacked, demonized and split into parts.  Claiming to be Keriel, a long dead archangel.

“Keriel left long ago.” Cas stated, twitching his hand in preparation of unsheathing his sword.  He hadn’t needed it in a long time for normal hunts, but always best to be prepared.  Complete innuendo there, which, Cas reflected, Dean had corrupted him into noticing.  Not that he wa really complaining, the hunter was _very_ talented.  “Either dead or in hell.”

He had a small flash of ‘déjà vu’ at the words, but then Keriel spoke again and it was lost.  “To tell the truth, I’m no longer either dead or in hell, but I’ll take it that you’ve forgotten that small tidbit.  I’m quite pleased that that worked by the way.  This would’ve been dreadful to get wrong.”

“What the hell are you going on about?” Dean blurted out and Cas stepped slightly in front of him in case Keriel attacked

Against all odds though, Keriel laughed, lightly tapping her hands against her book in mirth.  Cas could jut barely recognize the dark blue, a volume full of recorded possibilities.  “I’m talking about this.  All of this”

The vague and general waving did nothing to help Cas understand what ‘this’ was, and from the confusion on Dean’s face, it wasn’t just him that couldn’t figure things out.

“All of this?  Just assume that you’re supposed to elaborate on everything.” Dean said, crossing his arms. “Including what you’re doing in our house”

“Your house? You belong here then, do you?” Keriel asked curiously

“Of course we do” Dean answered, rolling his eyes.  “This isn’t helping you get to the point.  Cut the vague and cliché bad guy speech ”

“Yes, yes, of course.  The point.  And for your information, I’m not a cliché bad guy.” Keriel nodded sharply once, then sat up and looked at the two of them.  Cas couldn’t tell who she was looking at due to her ever-changing eyes, but he assumed she had done that on purpose.  It was far more unnerving.  “This isn’t your reality.  This is a different reality that branches off from the one you originated in a long time ago.  Around three years ago in fact.”

“Of course this is our reality” Cas replied, frowning at the demonized archangel. “You are the only one who can move between realities.  This is the only reality we’ve ever been in.”

“Yes, of course, but I forced the two of you into this one.  It’s really better than it sounds, but you get my point.  Or maybe you don’t.  Anyways, this isn’t the only reality you’ve ever been in.” Keriel rambled, standing up and leaving her book on the table as she made her way closer to Cas and Dean.  Cas instantly pressed forward, slipping his sword into his hand so he could protect Dean.  Keriel actually laughed at the defensive movement but stopped when she noticed the offended look on Cas’ face.

“I’m not making fun of you, it’s just that that’s the second time that’s happened to me in a very short time.  Funny things” Keriel remarked, stopping directly in front of Cas.  Dean moved to stand beside Cas instead of behind him and Cas had to repress the instinct to snap at him to stay away from such a powerful creature.  Dean had a huge complex about allowing people to get hurt because of him.  “You’re reality was discouraging and all that irritating stuff, not going to get better anytime soon, so I moved you both here.”

“Well aren’t you a fucking saint then” Dean snarled at her, evidently not believing what she was saying. “Just giving us a better life from the goodness of your heart.

“Oh no” Keriel laughed, grinning cheekily at both of them.  “I’m definitely not a good person.  But I can show you what your reality was.  You can figure it out from there. Or not.”

She didn’t wait for any conformation before touching two fingers to both of their heads, and then images were flashing rapidly through Cas’ mind

A Molotov cocktail hitting an angel’s vessel, Lucifer wearing Sam’s face.   Cas exploding at a snap of the devils fingers, coming back to life minutes later to heal Dean.  Raphael, a civil war in heaven, fighting and killing his brothers.  A crossroads demon, Crowley, and working with him.  Kissing Meg, going behind Dean’s back, finding purgatory in order to help him win the battle in heaven.  Light and black ooze, the leviathan, dying and walking into a lake.  Forgetting memories, being human, getting his grace back and going insane, working with Dean.  Killing the lead leviathan, being shoved into purgatory and running from Dean in order to protect his hunter.  Dean finding him, being _so_ excited over it, trying to get him out, and then Cas staying, refusing to leave in order to pay penance for his sins.  Then a woman pulling him out of purgatory and turning him into a puppet, sending him to kill his friends and torturing him into joining a hunt Dean and Sam were on.  Then the flood blanked out and Cas was back in his living room, breathing heavily and stumbling as he returned to reality.  The images sinking into his mind like badly created memories.  Definitely not productive to getting him to believe that they were real

Keriel didn’t even give them a second for the new information to sink in, pressing down harder with her fingers and whispering, “And this is what would’ve happened had I left you there”

More images, of Cas killing Dean, over and over again, hundreds of times at the bidding of an angel named Naomi.  When the time finally came for Cas to kill his only friend, Dean’s words of family and need halted all violent movements.  Getting the angel tablet, working with another archangel, Metatron, the betrayal and having Cas; grace ripped out.  Becoming human, becoming lost and uncertain as all of his siblings fell.  Pain and so much sorrow. 

“As I said, I am not a good person.  I removed you both from your reality for very selfish reasons, it just happened that my needs coincided with yours.” Keriel said, beaming as they returned to present time.  “But those aren’t important, what’s important now is what you choose to do next.”

“If you don’t leave us alone then what we’re going to do next is ganking you.” Dean hissed “Whatever the fuck you are”

“This is our reality.  I would know if it wasn’t” Cas insisted before Keriel could reply to Dean’s harsh words.  He knew that they belonged here.  He recognized every part of his house, all of this was real, definitely real.  Cas could remember the fear of Michael using Dean as a vessel, the healing and grace that the archangel had given him, Sam’s wedding with Jessica, Cas and Dean getting together and moving in.   A domestic life other than the many hunts that they took in on the side.  

“Oh most definitely, angel of Thursday and travelers.” Keriel said, the words ones that could’ve been mocking, but came out sounding almost kind.  “So, make your decision.  You can stay here in this pleasant and normal reality, or you can go back to your depressing one.  

 

~*~

 

Keriel waited, keeping the mindless grin on her face as she hoped that things went well.  She knew which option her little brother and his mate would choose, but there was still that unthinkable possibility that they didn’t.  They were absolutely certain now that this place was theirs, and she was absolutely certain that they would stay here.  It was skirting a fine line of disturbing free will, but Keriel managed it.  She had only _suggested_ that Michael agree to Dean’s conditions on becoming a vessel, replaced Dean and Castiel’ memories, given them back,—albeit false looking—and made them so certain of a reality not their own that they could only choose to stay there, here.  Where ever they were.

“Of course we’re staying here.  This is home” Dean replied defiantly, exchanging a glance with Castiel as if he expected Keriel to change their reality again anyways.  The younger angel sure looked like he expected it also, his sword up and eyes hard.  

Instead of replying, Keriel laughed at how well things had gone, spinning round and bounding back over to pick up her book.  She fondly brushed the cover off and then turned back to the two bemused beings standing in front of what they believed was their kitchen, and now actually was.  ‘Course, Keriel still wasn’t breaking the rules, she had been very careful on loopholes and all those fun things.  Whatever else happened, this was their reality now.

“Well then, I must go.  I realize this may have been a confusing conversation, but don’t worry, you won’t ever have to think about it again” Keriel announced, spreading her arms wide and giving a slight curtsy, just for the hell of it.  “Here we won’t meet again, nor many other places, but I look forward to living your many lives.  Goodbye and good day.”

Instead of actually leaving though, Keriel threw up some of her grace to hide herself, both visually and physically, giving the illusion of her disappearance.  The beings she left behind now looked completely bewildered and Keriel rushed to fix that, opening her grace up and extending thin tendrils of it, covering each strand in demonic essences and wincing as the darkened part of her grace burned at the contact.  Fuck, it really sucked how her two different heritages—actual and invasive—fought each other.  

Sinking the tendrils into their minds, Keriel removed the memories she had just given back to Dean and Castiel, both them and anything else she might have left or forgotten.  In place of the memories she set a sense of contentment that led elsewhere, into memories that the original Dean and Castiel would’ve had had they been still in this timeline.  Walking down the stairs, conversing about the vampire nest they would soon go to take care of, all that normal stuff.  Just to make sure she had done everything right, Keriel waited for the two of them to start moving and going about their day again, now that they were fully integrated into this new reality.  

And it wasn’t long before her success was confirmed.  Dean turned to Castiel and asked about food, receiving an amused look in return as they both disappeared into the kitchen, chatting about the anticipation of a good hunt after staying at home for so long.  Laughter and fond exasperation permeated through the air.

‘Yes’, Keriel thought, spreading her three sets of wings wide in preparation for flight, ‘things had gone _quite_ well.’


	8. Fire Rings, Flapping Wings and Endings

Sam raced across the farm towards the red glow, stumbling in the dark of the evening but quickly regaining his footing.  He had been checking the Quonsets when he noticed the light from where Dean had gone, and had instantly sprang into motion.  Now though, his mind was working overtime and he really didn’t like where it was going.  Dean hadn’t brought holy oil with him, so it was probably Cas who was in the ring of fire that Sam knew was there.  And if Cas was in the ring of fire, it meant that Keriel was there and had the upper hand over Cas and Dean.  Therefore Sam needed to be there as well to help his brother out, as quickly as possible.

Slowing down when he could hear the soft crackle of the fire, Sam inched around the side of the shed he had come up to, drawing his gun and debating on how much good that would do.  Well, if all else failed, he could be a distraction.  And Sam had been the only one in the first place to think that Keriel wanted to talk, so perhaps he was right?  Maybe the fire was just there as a precaution.  Of course that sort of stuff never happened to the Winchesters, so Sam stayed cautious as he stealthily moved forwards towards the tree.

He peeked around the corner and narrowed his eyes in confusion as he took in the scene in front of him.  The large tree was a black silhouette against the fire and darkening sky, and a huge ring surrounded both the tree itself and the surrounding 6 meter radius on either side.  It was an eerie but beautiful tableau that was morbidly completed with the two black shapes of figures hanging in the trees branches.  His knees suddenly grew weak as his body seemed to come to a conclusion that his mind seemed slow in reaching.  Even as he stumbled forwards and out from cover he was still trying to figure out who could be in the tree.  Who else might Keriel have killed as a message to them?  And why, now that she had actually spoken to Dean?

But then his mind caught up to him and the gun dropped from Sam’s hand as he once again ran, desperately shouting his brother’s name.  Scrambling for a knife, Sam yanked his out of his pocket, cutting himself in the process but barely noticing in his desperation.  He skidded to a stop below where his brother hung, Dean’s neck twisted awkwardly to the side because of the knot of the noose which suspended him.  Clambering ungracefully up the tree trunk, Sam grabbed the rope which hung his brother and tore at it with his knife, wincing as his brother fell but giving the same treatment to the rope that suspended Cas and then dismissing the angel in favor of his kin. 

Sliding down the tree, Sam slammed into the ground next to his brother and desperately searched for a pulse.   To his surprise it was strong, the bruises around his neck the only things that would suggest that there was something wrong with Dean.  Other than the fact that he wasn’t waking up, or making any movements that would out him as still being alive.  Sam called out his brother’s name again, over and over, shaking him, doing anything he cold to try and get some reaction.  Belatedly he realized that the pulse wasn’t strong but was actively slowing down, and Sam freaked, pressing down on Dean’s chest and trying CPR in hopes that it would change something for the better.  The heartbeat became slower. 

 

The flapping of wings was not heard over Sam’s cries, and neither did the youngest Winchester notice the demonized archangel who alighted on top of one of the grain bins, crouching down and taking in the scene with an impassive look on her face.  She had just come from a reality where the two figures that lay next to Sam were alive and well, happy with their family and completely in love with each other.  Of the three beings that this archangel had watched in this possibility, she had managed to make life better for two of them while destroying the world of the third. 

The expressionless look on Keriel’s face did not waver as Sam pressed his fingers to his brother’s neck to check the sluggish pulse.  Futile CPR gave her no reason to change her mind on what she had done.  Sam was the only one in this group of three who could possibly have a normal life.  He would be crushed over the fate of his brother, but like he had when Dean and Castiel were in purgatory, he would move on.  He might hunt Keriel, but she wouldn’t stay very much longer in this possibility.  There were other places that she need to watch over and tend to, this one could not take up all of her time.

Even as far away as Keriel was, she could clearly hear two of the heartbeats on the ground in their matching listless pace, the breaths these meatsuits took becoming shallower and less frequent as more time passed.  Keriel stayed ontop of the grain bin until all signs of life from anyone but Sam were gone, and then stayed longer, far into the next morning when her fire had been put out and the bodies had been taken away with sounds of mourning, the rumble of an impala’s engine echoing through the abandoned farmhouse and then fading away.  When it was completely gone Keriel finally moved, snapping her fingers, the ropes that still clung tightly to the tree and their nooses lying on the ground disappearing in small bursts of flame.  It was a pity that Dean and Castiel had to die in this reality, but they could never actually be happy here.  Therefore, they had to be moved away, their meatsuits left here to die.

After all, even she couldn’t split people in half.  People could exist in many different possibilities, but no one could live in two at the same time.

 

~*~

 

“Dean, do you ever feel like something’s weird?  Like something’s just a bit off?”

“Nothing other than your cooking?”

“You seem to like my pies Dean.  If you don’t like my cooking you should have said something earlier.  I would have stopped making food a long time ago”

“No!  You are not allowed to stop making food, seriously, I’m just teasing you.  You’ve spent years with me, you should know when I’m making a joke by now”

“…”

“Son of a bitch!  You’re making fun of me!”

“You deserved it”

“No I didn’t.  That was mean.”

“You love my ‘sense’ of humor.”

“Alright fine, and I also definitely love your air quotes.  But that’s approaching chick flick territory, which I’ve already had enough of for the day, so we should really leave it alone”

“Of course”

“…Love you Cas”

“Love you too Dean”


End file.
